cel
Latinswift, quick, speed
About This Root
From Latin celer (swift, quick) and its noun celeritas (speed). It is the root of the technical-speed family: accelerate (ad- 'to' + celer = to add speed), acceleration, and the formal/literary celerity (swiftness). It is a compact, focused root. WARNING: excel and excellent are NOT from celer — they come from a separate Latin verb, excellere (ex- + -cellere, 'to rise/project up,' related to celsus 'high'), which means 'to rise above, surpass.' The shared 'cel' spelling is a coincidence of two unrelated roots.
Associated Words · 7
excellent
Of the highest quality; exceptionally good
accelerate
To cause to move faster; to increase in speed or rate
excel
To be exceptionally good at something; to surpass others
acceleration
The act of speeding up; the rate of change of velocity
celerity
Swiftness; speed of movement or action
accelerated
Moving or progressing faster than usual
accelerating
Increasing in speed or rate; an act of acceleration